PESHAWAR: The ‘persistent and blanket’ disruption of mobile phone network signals on the premises of Peshawar High Court, Judicial Complex and other adjacent courts allegedly due to installation of jammers in the nearby central prison has compelled legal fraternity to observe strike in Peshawar from today (Thursday) for an indefinite period.

Peshawar Bar Association (PBA) made the announcement after Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council accepted its request and allowed it to go ahead with the strike in local courts.

The association, which has been demanding for the last couple of weeks of government and local administration to resolve the matter, announced that lawyers won’t appear in proceedings before any of the courts in district judiciary.

A statement was jointly issued by PBA office-bearers including its president Qaiser Zaman, general secretary Zahidullah Zahid and press secretary Imran Khan Yousafzai, stating that they won’t call off the strike unless the issue was resolved and the disruption of mobile phone signals ended.

PBA also announced that it would file a petition in high court to challenge the suspension of phone signals due to the jammers installed in the nearby prison.

Earlier, in the day lawyers staged a protest against the issue and also locked one of the prison gates opening into Judicial Complex.

The president of PHC Bar Association, Aminur Rehman Yousafzai, its vice president Arshid Nowshervi, Qaiser Zaman, Zahidullah Zahid and other lawyers’ representatives told journalists that for the last three months they had been struggling to get the issue resolved, but in vain.

Meanwhile, KP Bar Council has also expressed concerns over the issue and demanded of government and prison authorities to resolve it at the earliest.

KPBC vice-chairman Ahmad Farooq Khattak and its executive committee chairman Akbar Khan Kohistani stated that prison authorities had created problems for people outside by installing the jammers.

It is pertinent to mention that PHC had sought the response of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority in July this year to a petition challenging mobile phone disruptions in courts.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2025